Wrong Medication Claims – How Much Compensation?

The wrong medication can cause immediate, serious, and preventable harm. Those involved in prescribing, dispensing, and administering medication must adhere to strict standards, such as those outlined by the General Medical Council. If you have been avoidably harmed due to an error in prescribing, dispensing or administering drugs, you may wonder how much compensation for wrong medication you could claim and how to do so. How Much Compensation works with a panel of solicitors, including those with specialist medical negligence expertise. If you are eligible, our panel could support your claim for medical negligence compensation.

Key Points

• The Care Quality Commission estimates there are as many as 237 million medication errors annually.
• Data from NHS Resolution highlights opioids, anticoagulants, antidepressants, antimicrobials and anticonvulsants as those most commonly implicated in medication errors.
• The same data shows that between April 2015 and March 2020, the NHS paid damages in 487 claims.
• Medication errors could lead to allergic reactions, kidney damage, cardiac arrest, and even death in some instances.
• Settlements for a medication error can compensate for any physical pain and mental suffering caused as well as any financial hardships that occurred as a result.

To find out if you are eligible to seek compensation for a medication error, speak to one of our advisors. A friendly advisor will assess whether you have a valid claim, estimate how much it could be worth and if eligible, connect you to our panel.

Jump To A Section

• How Much Compensation For Wrong Medication Claims?
• What Factors Determine The Amount Of Wrong Medication Compensation?
• Can Compensation For Incorrect Medication Cover Special Damages?
• Can I Claim For Wrong Medication Compensation?
• What Are Some Examples Of Incorrect Medication Compensation Claims?
• What Do I Need To Bring A Claim For Wrong Medication Compensation?
• Why Choose How Much Compensation For A Wrong Medication Claim?
• More Information

How Much Compensation For Wrong Medication Claims?

How much compensation for wrong medication is awarded is individual to each case. Compensation for medical negligence may be divided into two heads of loss;

General damages – covering pain and suffering. These are discussed in the subsequent section.
Special damages – covering financial losses. These are discussed later in the guide.

To value general damages, your solicitor or the courts may be guided by compensation brackets set by the Judicial College (JCG). These brackets provide compensation guidelines for different forms and severities of harm. Below, the table presents JCG figures. The top figure does not come from the JCG and such figures are not guarantees of compensation.

Harm and severity	Notes	Compensation Guidelines
Multiple forms of harm and special damages such as lost income, domestic support costs, or medical expenses.	Multiple, severe injuries, and special damages covering financial losses.	Up to £1,000,000+ including special damages for medical bills, lost income, and other costs.
Very severe brain damage (a).	May also include double incontinence and require full time care.	£344,150 to £493,000
Less severe brain damage (d).	The person may make a good degree of recovery, but not all functions will be restored.	£18,700 to £52,550.
Kidney damage (a)	The loss of both kidneys or serious and permanent damage to them.	£206,730 to £256,780.
Kidney damage (b).	Significant risks of totally losing natural function or urinary tract infections.	Up to £78,080.
Shorter durations of paralysis (c).	Where the person dies shortly after (for unrelated reasons).	£60,210.00
Digestive system - illness due to allergic reaction (b) (i).	Toxicosis, severe pain, and the requirement for hospital care.	£46,900 to £64,070.
Digestive system - illness due to allergic reaction (b) (iii).	An allergic reaction which causes significant discomfort and which impacts bowel function.	£4,820 to £11,640.
Moderate post-traumatic stress disorder (c).	The person can or will have largely recovered.	£9,980 to £28,250.
Less severe psychiatric damage (d).	Awards consider the duration of any disability sustained.	£1,880 to £7,150.

Please get in contact with our team to learn more about medical negligence compensation claims. They can also estimate the value of the physical and mental harm you suffered and help calculate this into how much compensation for the wrong medication you could be awarded.

What Factors Determine The Amount Of Wrong Medication Compensation?

The amount of wrong medication compensation can be determined by factors such as the type of harm suffered and its degree of severity. General damages reflect physical pain and suffering as well as the psychological impact the harm has had on you. The following factors may be taken into consideration:

• The type of harm suffered, the more serious the form of harm, the higher an award may be.
• Severity of harm, accounting for the degree to which you suffered.
• Duration, how long you were impacted for, was the harm temporary or permanent?
• Loss of amenity, such as being unable to care for others, work, or participate in daily activities.

These factors may be assessed in line with the JCG as discussed above. You could get a breakdown of how much compensation for wrong medication you could be owed by one of our advisors.

Can Compensation For Incorrect Medication Cover Special Damages?

Yes, compensation for being harmed by the incorrect medication can cover special damages. This may include care costs, medical expenses, and lost earnings.

Special damages could compensate for financial impacts, such as,

• Lost income, earnings, entitlement to overtime and pension contributions.
• Medical expenses, such as the cost of private medical care, consultations, and medication.
• Therapeutic services, such as rehabilitation and physiotherapy.
• Travel costs to get to and from the hospital or other medical appointments.
• Domestic or care home costs.

These financial impacts must be clearly supported with bank statements, invoices or other financial records. Get in touch to see what expenses you may be compensated for.

Can I Claim For Wrong Medication Compensation?

Yes, you can claim for wrong medication compensation if you meet the eligibility criteria. To claim compensation for wrong medication negligence, you must show that:

• You were owed a duty of care by a medical professional. Patients are automatically owed a duty of care by medical and healthcare professionals whilst they are treating you.
• This professional breached their duty of care. We discuss examples of how this could occur in the following section.
• The breach caused you avoidable and unnecessary harm. We look at what physical and psychological harm you could suffer in the next section.

If your case meets these criteria, you may have a valid clinical negligence claim. Please contact an advisor for a thorough assessment of your case.

What Are Some Examples Of Incorrect Medication Compensation Claims?

Examples of incorrect medication claims include dosage errors, being given the wrong medication type, and patient mix-ups. Medication errors could happen in GP surgeries, pharmacies, care homes, or hospitals. They could be caused by misdiagnosis, administrative errors, miscommunications, or the failure to follow proper procedures when dispensing medication.

Examples of how a patient could be avoidably harmed by the incorrect medication.

• Dosage errors – a pharmacy dispenses the wrong dosage of hormone-based medication than prescribed. This leads to a patient developing blood clots and suffering a stroke.
• Wrong type of medication – a pharmacy dispenses the wrong drug for the patient’s condition. This medication causes nerve damage, specifically drug-induced peripheral neuropathy.
• Hospital negligence – medication is given to the wrong patient due to a labelling error. This medication causes the patient to suffer seizures.
• Allergy oversight – medical professionals are aware of a patient’s allergies; however, these are not taken into account when administering medication, causing the patient to suffer an allergic reaction.
• Adverse drug interactions – a patient is prescribed several types of medication without adverse interactions being considered. This leads to the patient suffering internal bleeding.
• Prescription error – a GP prescribes the wrong medication to a patient. The prescription error led to the patient’s condition deteriorating.

Please contact our advisors to find out how much compensation for wrong medication errors you may be eligible to claim and discuss the incident that caused you unnecessary suffering.

What Do I Need To Bring A Claim For Wrong Medication Compensation?

You will need evidence showing that a prescribing, dispensing, or administrative error caused you avoidable harm. This evidence must show that negligence occurred, with the care you received falling below professional standards. You may submit:

• Medical records showing adverse reactions or health complications caused by your receiving the wrong medication, dosage, etc.
• Records from your GP surgery (or other healthcare provider), such as the original prescription.
• Pharmacy dispensing records showing what medication and dosage was, or should have been, dispensed.
• Photographs of medication packaging, labels, or instructions.
• Packaging of the prescription or any instruction leaflets included with it.
• Correspondence with the healthcare provider, such as formal complaints, details of investigations, or other communication.

You must also show that you are within the limitation period. Typically, this extends to 3 years after the incident, but may vary in certain cases.

A solicitor could help you collect evidence of medical negligence and submit your claim within the limitation period.

Why Choose How Much Compensation For A Wrong Medication Claim?

By choosing How Much Compensation, you can ensure that your wrong medication claim is fairly and transparently assessed. You can also access expert legal insight into how claims work and guidance throughout the claims process. When you first contact our team, an advisor can review your case and answer any questions you may have. They could then connect you to one of the expert solicitors on our panel. They could,

• Organise for you to undergo an independent medical assessment.
• Ensure you are updated throughout the claims process.
• Provide expert advice and guidance.
• Negotiate with the healthcare provider and their solicitors.
• Ensuring any court documents are prepared, if your claim progresses this far.

If you choose to work with a medical negligence solicitor from our panel, they could offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. They may do so through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This allows you to make a medical negligence claim, without having to pay solicitors fees before or during the claims process. You will also not pay solicitors’ fees if the claim is unsuccessful. You will be charged a success fee if you win your case. This is charged as a set (legally capped) percentage of your compensation.

Contact Our Team

Contacting our team connects you to an advisor who could assess how much compensation for wrong medication negligence you could claim. You can get in touch by,

• Phone 0800 408 7826.
• Use our live chat.
• Click here to contact us.

More Information

You can get more information on how much compensation you can claim for other types of medical negligence in these resources.

• Get more information on claiming for medical negligence resulting in death.
• Check how much compensation for surgical errors you may claim.
• Learn more about nerve damage compensation here.

References.

• Learn more about medication errors in this resource from NHS Resolution.
• View Care Quality Commission insights on medicines safety here.
• You can report an issue with a medicine to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) under the Yellow Card system.

Please contact us for more information on how much compensation for wrong medication negligence you could be owed.